Russia-Ukraine War: List of key events, day 1,025 | Russia-Ukraine war News

Here is the situation on Sunday, December 15:

Fighting

• Russia has begun using North Korean troops in significant numbers for the first time to attack Ukrainian forces fighting to hold the border in the Kursk region, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

• Ukraine's air force shot down 58 of 132 Russian drones, the Ukrainian military said. It said 72 Russian drones were “lost” due to the use of electronic warfare disruption tactics. There were no immediate reports of damage.

• Russian air defense systems destroyed 15 Ukrainian submarines overnight, the Ministry of Defense announced. Thirteen drones were dropped over the Black Sea and one each over the Russian border regions of Kursk and Belgorod, it added.

• A nine-year-old child was killed in the attack on a Ukrainian plane in Belgorod, said regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov. In this incident, two other people were injured, including a child.

• Ukrainian warplanes have carried out an attack on the Steel Horse oil field in Russia's Oryol region, which is an important source of supplies for the Russian military, the Ukrainian military said.

• Ukrainian drones hit a “petrol infrastructure facility” in Orlov, the local governor said, causing a fire. Governor Andrei Klychkov said 11 drones were shot down in the region. No injuries were reported.

Politics and diplomacy

• Zelenskyy said he has ordered his government to establish ways to supply food to Syria after the abdication of President Bashar al-Assad. Since the fall of al-Assad, Russian wheat exports to Syria have been suspended.
• Ukrainian General Oleksandr Tarnavskiy, 54, has been appointed to head the Donetsk tactical task force, replacing General Oleksandr Lutsenko, the military announced, as Russia makes rapid advances in the Donetsk region.